Homophobia in the News

Kick It Out, a campaign dedicated to eradicating football of all forms of discrimination, is preparing for their annual One Game, One Community weeks of action. One Game, One Community will take place in communities across England from 14 through 26 October with activities in locations ranging from park pitches to the Premier League. If you are located in England and would like to organise an event in your own area, you can find out how here. Red Card Homophobia would love to feature their efforts in the blog, but unfortunately we are not all located in England. If you plan on attending or organising any events and would like to share photos and stories please send an email to redcardhomophobia[at]gmail[dot]com. [Kick It Out]

Our friends at Kickette posted an inspiring editorial addressing homophobia both on the pitch and in the stands, as well as the lack of openly gay professional footballers. Here’s one important takeaway: “We’d have thought/hoped that the commercialisation of football would actually have made a safer space for gay players and fans to express themselves; football is marketed as the global game for everyone, after all.” Kickette linked Red Card Homophobia as a place to help combat homophobia in football. Thanks Kickette! [Kickette]

Guess what readers? You are not alone. A recent study from Staffordshire University revealed that “80% of football fans are ‘relaxed’ about the presence of gay footballers in the English leagues and would ‘welcome more honesty from players about their sexuality.’” But football is far from homophobia-free as many respondents also said “’Gays can’t play football – fact’ and ‘I’m homophobic, so would find it weird chanting for an openly gay player.’” It’s clear there’s still work to be done. [The Guardian, Staffordshire University]

Red Card Homophobia member abfabregas kindly linked us to an informative BBC segment on the late Justin Fashanu and his legacy. If you are not familiar, Justin Fashanu was the first, and only, openly gay professional footballer and tragically committed suicide in 1998. [YouTube]